It's Not Like I Planned for This to Happen
by Nocturnal Elle
Summary: A sequel to my "Mischief & the Mark" story. The timeline is an alternate season five.
1. Chapter 1: Make It All Go Away

It had been a month since Willow and Spike had fallen victim to the whims of Mischief. Any given month on the Hellmouth, though, tends to be a little more eventful than most, so in that span of time, a lot had happened. There had been demons and some various hell-beasts. There had been Giles' search for a new car and Anya's first bout with the flu. Buffy slayed and Xander quipped. And Tara broke Willow's heart.

Willow stood outside his crypt. On the outside, she was perfectly still. On the inside, she was having a heated argument with herself.

_This is stupid. This is the stupidest thing you've ever done. You will regret this until the day you die. Go home. Don't do this. Don't do this. _Then she thought of Tara. She thought of her sweet smile and the way she would drop her eyes shyly. _"I am, you know."_ The tears began to well up in Willow's eyes. _"Yours."_ And then she thought of Oz. _"I'd still. I'd very still."_ The tears began to fall.

Willow shook her head. She was done crying and through with being ripped apart by the ones who loved her. She entered the crypt.

Spike had thought he heard the steady thrum of a heartbeat nearby. When it didn't get any closer or further away for several minutes, he'd almost decided it was his imagination. Then the door to his crypt opened slowly to reveal Willow behind it.

_Great_, he thought. _What does the bleedin' Slayer need me for this time?_

Willow took a deep breath as she walked toward Spike. He already looked annoyed. _What were you thinking? Turn back. You never should have come._ She regarded the silent vampire for a moment before plastering on a happy face.

"Hi. Are ya busy?"

_Who did the chit think she was fooling with that chipper tone?_ Spike narrowed his eyes at her and frowned. "What do you want?"

Unfazed, Willow advanced. "I came to ask you for something."

Spike knew it. _Send the redhead. That always gets him._ He turned his back on her and seethed. "Whatever she needs this time, she can do it herself."

"Buffy didn't send me. I came for me."

Spike turned back around, intrigued.

Willow looked at her feet nervously. "Tara, um, well... she's not exactly... human, as it turns out, and, uh, I..."

Spike had taken a step closer to her.

"I just want to make it all go away."

"And you came to me for that?"

She nodded and launched into one of her trademark rambles. Spike didn't hear most of it. Standing this close to her, he was remembering the feel of her skin, how warm she was. "...and now I know and nothing can go back to the way it was and I can't stop thinking about it and then I thought of something that would make me stop thinking and that's where you come in, only..."

Spike started to listen to what she was saying. She couldn't possibly mean -

"...I don't know if you'd be interested, but you never know if you don't ask and so here I am, asking." As the words finished tumbling out of her mouth, Willow finally looked up and noticed Spike didn't seem annoyed anymore.

He cocked his head to the side. "What exactly are you asking, love?"

That heartbeat Spike had noticed picked up in pace. Willow's eyes met his and then promptly dropped to the floor. "Remember when Cupid did his funny little spell and we got sorta, er, close?"

When Spike didn't answer, Willow looked up. She didn't know what reaction she expected him to have, but it wasn't this. His eyes were slowly traveling up her frame and he unconsciously drew his hand over his chest. That heartbeat began to race.

"Oh, I think I recall a little here - and there - of our - _encounter_ - with one another." He punctuated his sentence with a knowing glance and a sly grin.

"Right. So. I was wondering..." Willow's brain began to send its last attempts to flee. _Are you crazy? Turn around and leave! Pretend this never happened!_

"You were wondering if. . .?" Spike reached over and pushed a lock of hair away from her face.

"Um, if maybe you'd like to, um. . ." Willow's brain began chanting _What are you doing? What are you doing?_

"You came over to shag, then?"

"Well," Willow bit her lip, hesitant. She shrugged. "Yeah."

Spike considered this carefully. Two seconds later, he said "I'm okay with that."

Willow's brain shut off completely.

* * *

Willow lay on her back on what Spike considered a bed. He was beside her, not touching her. He had proven himself very adept at being a temporary distraction, but as her breathing returned to normal and her skin cooled, rational thought came back into play. And now she had regret to add to her list of current problems.

"Spike? Can I ask you something?"

He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. What was she going to ask? The little witch confounded him, and he didn't like that. "Fire away."

"You didn't laugh and tell me to run along back to the Slayer. Why?"

Silence.

_Lie to her. You don't owe her any explanation. She asked for this. Tell her you never turn down an easy lay. Do not tell her the truth._ Spike rolled onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow so that he could look Willow in the face when he spoke. He opened his mouth to lie. And the truth came out instead.

"Because you're innocent and I'd like to be the one to corrupt you. Because I can't hurt you physically but I know I can emotionally. Because I want to be the biggest mistake you ever made. I hate having to help your little group so that you won't stake me, and I feel oddly grateful to you for not letting me stake myself. And, with your big green eyes and goofy clothes, I think you're cute."

Willow blinked. She was speechless. She had assumed he wasn't going to answer. When he seemed so calm, she was certain he was going to lie. But she knew he was telling the truth. He had rambled. He couldn't possibly know how that made her feel. _She_ didn't know how that made her feel. All she knew was suddenly, there was a funny feeling in her stomach. Not flip-flops and not butterflies, but something.

"Now tell me why you really came over here."

She closed her eyes. "Because I fell in love with good people; safe people. And they loved me." She paused. "Then they hurt me. I gave them my heart and they broke it without meaning to." Willow opened her eyes. "But I go into this _knowing_ you'll hurt me." Spike's face remained emotionless. "How stupid and self-destructive of me, right?" Spike smiled at her; at least she knew when she was playing with fire.

"I always knew you were the smart one."

Willow didn't know what to say. Had Spike just complimented her? She'd almost expected him to chastise her like anyone else would have. Then she realized he didn't care enough to bother. He didn't care about her at all. She found an odd freedom in that. She'd never really taken the time to contemplate Spike as more than Buffy's enemy. Now she was curious about him.

_Why isn't she saying anything?_ She was giving him the strangest look out of those big green eyes. _She should be nervous. She should be rambling._ Instead, she pulled a blanket over her chest modestly and sat up. Then she pushed him onto his back and crawled on top of him. With one hand, she held the blanket in place and with the other she took one of his hands. Holding it in her palm, she turned it over and studied it. Her eyes searched over his fingers, up his arm, across his chest. Spike grew uncomfortable under her unwavering gaze. "_What_ are you doing?"

Willow didn't pay him much attention. "Sssh, I'm memorizing."

Something in her manner reminded him of Drusilla, though he wasn't sure what. Nonetheless, a stillness came over him.

Willow found Spike mesmerizing. She never knew what to expect from him. It was hard to anticipate what he would say or do. This fascinated her, and so she was studying him, like she would a new spell or a good book. She took little mental notes. He had good hands, like Oz. No pulse. Scars. Rough here, smooth there. There was one other aspect of Spike that she wanted to see closely. What would she need to do? She could strike him, but he'd see that coming and stop her. Maybe if...

Spike was about to speak to stop her from looking at him like that when she leaned down and nuzzled into his neck. Willow didn't want to lose her nerve, so she did a little something she remembered from her vampire self. She licked him. And then she bit him as hard as she could, without warning.

The vampire howled and shot them off the bed onto the floor. He pinned her to the ground and growled at her. "Why in hell did you do that?" he shouted.

Willow's heart was racing with fear. But, boy had she gotten the results she was looking for. She avoided looking into his amber eyes. She didn't refrain from tracing her trembling fingers over the ridges on his forehead.

Spike was stunned and a little aroused. She had wanted to see him like this. And she didn't pull away. The fear was coming off her in waves and there was a smudge of his own blood on her bottom lip. Something inside him caught. She couldn't possibly know how that made him feel. _He_ didn't know how that made him feel. When she finished examining him, she looked him the eye and smiled. A lazy, "so, sue me" kind of smile. Spike didn't bother to think; he just reacted. He kissed his blood off her mouth, mixing hers with it when he accidentally cut her lip with his fangs.

Willow found herself beyond thought again. Regret wasn't making much of a show, either.

* * *

She was blushing; she couldn't help it. He'd watched her the whole time she got dressed.

He loved making her blush. It was the defining symbol of her innocence. "What are you gonna tell the Slayer 'bout that lip?" Her face got redder. He smiled.

"How bad is it?"

"Looks like you've been kissing a vampire." She threw her sneaker at him.

"Maybe I'll use a glamour." She grinned mischieviously. "Or maybe I'll tell her the truth and watch her pummel you."

"Now, now. Then I might not be so willing to help you out the next time you need a - _favor_ -" He handed her back her shoe.

"Yeah, yeah, I might actually have to say 'please' or something."

Spike stretched out like a cat. "Something like that."

"Hmm, well. I gotta go. Don't want anybody asking where I was, do we?"

"No, we don't."

Willow started to leave; she made it to the entrance and stopped. She turned her head. "Thanks, Spike."

"Don't thank me, pet. You owe me next time."

She nodded and was gone. He knew she lingered just outside the crypt, but he didn't see the look on her face when Oz's voice filtered into her head. _"Our lives aren't like other people's."_ He didn't see the look fade when she thought of Tara saying _"You have to be with the person you love."_ But most importantly, he missed the goofy grin that followed her memory of a certain British accent before walking away. _"You had on that... Fuzzy pink number with the lilac underneath."_


	2. Chapter 2: Return Favor

Spike couldn't believe it. She could have at least had the decency to kill him this time. Somehow, none of this mess with the implant was real until Dru knew about it. How she had laughed.

He lay on the ground. He hadn't gotten up since fighting with her. What a pathetic heap he made. Seeing Dru again made him realize how much of a nothing he had become. He wanted this pitiful feeling to go away. An image swam before his mind. Big green eyes looking at him like he was the only thing in the world.

He sat up.

* * *

Willow turned out the light. She'd finish her research paper in the morning. It was a cool night, so she snuggled into her plaid flannel pajamas and crawled into bed. Her eyelids felt heavy and she was mentally exhausted. Sleep rushed in and dreams quickly followed.

_They were sitting at the table in the old high school library, she and Xander and Oz. Buffy and Giles were training on the floor behind them. Willow was arranging notes for her research paper. Xander and Oz were playing Go Fish._

_"He'll be here soon," Xander said, not looking up from his cards._

_Willow reached for a book. "Who?"_

_Oz looked at her. "He'll protect you."_

_"From what?"_

_Xander interrupted. "I don't like him. I don't have to like him. You gonna finish that?"_

_Willow looked down. No research notes, just half a sandwich. She handed it to her friend. "Why don't you like him?"_

_Xander shrugged. She looked to Oz. He shrugged._

_Giles came and sat down. He took Willow's hand and looked into her eyes, but didn't say anything. Willow looked over her shoulder to Buffy. The blonde was punching at the air. She stopped and looked at Willow. "I'll kill him."_

* * *

Willow awoke to the sound of someone knocking on her door. She shuffled out of bed, the dream she had been having already forgotten. The last echoes of sleepiness died away as she opened her door to find a vampire on the other side.

"Spike," she gasped quietly. "What are you doing here?"

"Can I come in?"

She took in his appearance. Cut on the forehead, clothes more disheveled than usual. It was obvious he'd been in a fight. She couldn't place the look in his eyes, but she knew it was what made her take a step back from the door and say "Come in."

He crossed the threshold and took off his duster. He didn't say anything and that made Willow nervous. He seemed to be in some sort of inner turmoil and she didn't think vampires handled their inner turmoil in quite the same fashion she did.

"Let me tend to that cut." She pulled out her first-aid kit. "Who did this to you?"

He didn't answer, but he stood still for her to clean the wound. Neither spoke. It started to rain outside. Willow finished up and walked across the room to put her first aid kit back in its place. Spike spoke to her back.

"It was Dru."

Willow felt her stomach drop. She didn't speak and she didn't turn around. She remembered the time when Spike had kidnapped her and the time he had tried to stake himself. Drusilla meant the world to him. If Dru thought Spike had gone soft when he made a deal with Buffy, then Willow had a pretty good idea what the vampiress would think of his current situtation. Willow's heart went out to him. Still facing away from him, she asked "Why did you come to me?"

"Same reason you came to me last time. I want to forget." The pain conveyed in his voice was palpable. Willow turned to look at him. He began to pace around the room.

"I was lying there, thinking how awful my life has become. The look on her face when she - " Spike's voice nearly broke. He paused. "I never thought it would come this. We were supposed to be _eternal_."

Willow didn't know what to say, so she just watched him. Her mind was already running past the situation anyway. What was going on here? Did he know what it meant that he came to her? Had she known what it meant when she had gone to him?

"I keep seeing her looking at me. Pathetic. Nothing." His back was to Willow. "But when I try to think of something else... I see you." He turned. "I see you looking at me the way you did when you said you were 'memorizing.' And that's why I'm here. I want you to make me feel the way I did when you looked at me like that."

Willow bit her lip. It seemed like the air between them was humming. _He doesn't know what he's asking_, she thought to herself. She took a step toward him. _But you know what you're doing_, a voice inside her said. Another step and they were face to face. She placed a hand in the center of his chest.

_When you went to his crypt, that was stupid. This, this is beyond stupidity. He's Spike, remember? Mr. Bottle-in-face, kill-you-slowly vampire guy. We're not talking your body anymore. Your heart is at stake now. _Their eyes met.

"I can try."

* * *

Light from the window slowly crept over the pillows and blankets on Willow's bed. When it began to warm her cheek, she gradually woke up. As coherent thoughts began to filter into her mind, her eyes flew open and she sat up quickly to make sure Spike was out of the sun. There was no leather duster draped over her chair; he was gone. She eased back into the covers.

Willow had dealt with a lot of confusing things so far in life. Her best friend was a vampire slayer. Her first boyfriend was a werewolf. She went to high school over a hellmouth. The funny thing was, all the stuff she'd faced since the day she had met a girl named Buffy Summers didn't really prepare her for what was happening to her now. The bottom line is, no matter how many confusing or downright terrifying situations you make it through, you still aren't adequately prepared for the newest confusing or downright terrifying situation you find yourself in.

They had spent the night in Willow's bed. She had pulled off Spike's shirt, and he had unbuttoned her pajama top. They made it to the bed and then Spike did something Willow didn't expect, as he was so prone to do. He just held her close to him and ran his fingers through her hair.

"Sweet little redhead," he called her. "Can you curl that little warm body of yours around this cold dead one and make me feel like I matter?"

His voice was soft and gentle and made Willow think his meeting with Drusilla might have brought out a bit of a crazy side in him, too.

"Hold onto me the way I know you would have the dog or the witch, like you love me and just need to feel me."

And she had.

Willow awoke twice during the night. It was still raining the first time. Spike was on his side and she was nestled behind him, with an arm around his waist and an ankle looped with one of his. She wasn't sure how she knew, but she could tell he was awake. The next time she drifted out of sleep, it was almost dawn and the rain had stopped. Spike was sound asleep on his back and Willow was propped half on top of him, with his arms securing her in place. She rested her head back on his chest, the surprise of him still being there not enough to keep her awake.

Willow's thoughts drifted back to the present. He doesn't know; it couldn't mean... She rolled onto her side and saw the note at her nightstand.

_Please don't tell Slutty or Chubs._

The note made Willow smile. She wasn't sure if this was because she pictured the look Buffy and Xander would give her if she did tell them or because Spike had used the word 'please.' Either way, the smile soon returned to a thoughtful expression.

"Hold me like you love me and just need to feel me." He didn't know. Maybe he did. Spike was pretty intuitive. So he knew. It didn't matter; the point was that she knew...

...that she couldn't just fake something like that.


	3. Chapter 3: The End of the World, Again

"Of course." Giles sat back from the book of prophecy and adjusted his glasses. He had been poring over this passage for hours and didn't know why the answer hadn't occurred to him sooner. He picked up the phone.

"I think I've found it... no, it won't be easy... you won't like this, but..."

* * *

"Just great," Buffy muttered and set down the phone. She held the receiver in place for a moment then picked it up and dialed Willow's number.

"Hey, Wills, I need you to do something... no, no magic involved... uh, not exactly... it's about Spike..."

* * *

"So you want me to get Spike to the magic shop after sundown? ...I guess... okay, see you later." Willow got the impression Buffy wasn't telling her everything. Of course, Willow hadn't exactly been telling Buffy everything lately, either. She reached for her jacket and began acting as if she was practicing a piece for drama class.

"Willow, is there anything you want to tell me about Spike?  
Who, me? No, Buffy, there's nothing to tell...  
How'd you get that cut on your lip, Wills?  
Uh, the jar exploded when I was working on this spell, see?  
Since when do you turn in your research papers late?  
Ever since I started suffering from vamp on the brain..."

Despite the funny looks she got from passersby, Willow kept up her dialogue all across campus. It made her feel better. She _wanted_ to tell Buffy about what was happening between her and Spike. She just didn't know what exactly that was, yet.

* * *

Xander and Anya sat at a table in the magic shop. Anya was busy rifling through a stack of packing slips. "You do know you're being grossly overcharged for shipping, right?"

Giles was rooting through a chest of weapons. "Anya, could we perhaps discuss that when there isn't an impending apocalyptic prophecy looming about our heads?"

Anya shrugged and mouthed "sorry" but didn't look up from her packing slips.

"He's just a little preoccupied." Xander patted his girlfriend's knee under the table. "So, G-man, what's the what here with this prophecy?"

Giles came away from the weapons chest with an axe and a look on his face that said it wasn't quite the axe he was looking for but it would do. "I'd rather wait till everyone is here to go into details, but it's basically the end of the world again."

Xander nodded. "Oh."

Buffy burst through the door. "Are they here yet?" Giles and Anya shook their heads. Buffy sat down next to Xander and looked at Giles. "Do you think she can get him to come?"

Anya snorted. Buffy and Giles shot her a look. She mouthed another "sorry."

"Who are we talking about?" Xander asked.

The slayer and her watcher exchanged an uncomfortable glance. Anya shoved aside her pile of papers and looked at her boyfriend. "Giles thinks Spike is the one who can save the world this time. Buffy is afraid to ask him, so she's gonna make Willow do it. She thinks he'll say yes because he's had sex with her."

Three open-mouthed faces stared at Anya. "What?" She turned around. Willow stood behind her, quickly turning red. Spike stood next to her. He crossed his arms. Anya turned back around. She didn't even bother with the "sorry" this time.

The expression on Spike's face was so rigid, he looked like he was made out of stone. Willow spoke to him timidly. "I didn't know; they just asked me to bring you here."

Buffy stood. "I didn't tell her what this was about, I just thought - "

"That maybe this time offering to not kill me wouldn't do the trick?"

Buffy started to protest but calmed herself. They really needed Spike this time, and she knew pissing him off wasn't the best way to go. "Will you hear us out?" She paused. "Please?"

Spike's expression remained the same, but he didn't make a move to leave. "Talk."

Giles began to explain about a demon named Veyrta that had found a ritual to create hell on earth. The key to stopping him lay in finding a soulless warrior. "That would be where you come in, Spike."

The vampire smirked. "You want _me_ to save the world?" He looked around the room. "And why would I want to do that?"

Buffy knew this wouldn't work. Spike would need to be convinced there was something in it for him. As far as she knew, he'd enjoy watching them all die in some sort of gruesome apocalyptic setting. She seethed. "It's not like you haven't helped us stop the end of the world before."

Spike cocked his head to the side. "Now, now, Slayer, surely you can do better than that."

For the next several minutes, the magic shop was filled with pleadings, ideas and incentives. Giles used logic; Buffy went with veiled threats. Xander tried reverse psychology; Anya told Spike killing Veyrta would give him bragging rights for millenia. Willow remained silent, as did Spike. He had been avoiding looking at the witch ever since they got there. Now, he stole one quick glance at her. She was paler than usual, scared. Her brow was furrowed, thinking. Her eyes were cloudy, a jumble of emotions. Spike faced the others, but in his mind, he still saw Willow. He pictured her talking with her hands, her eyes lighting up and smiling. Then he pictured her body on the ground, broken and bloodied by some nameless hell beast. For the first time in months, such a violent image brought him no peace. He held up a hand to silence all the babble.

"Fine, I'll try. Just shut up, will you?"

Silence hung in the room for a moment. Buffy blinked. "If you're joking - " Giles didn't know what to say. Xander and Anya watched as Willow turned to Spike.

She searched his face with her eyes. Her voice sounded distant when she spoke. "You'll do it?"

Quietly, he said to her "I'll _try_." Then Spike addressed Giles. "So, when do I kill him?"

Giles held Spike's gaze a little longer than necessary, trying to ascertain whether he would really go through with helping them. "Veyrta will begin the ritual tonight; Buffy's already found the cave he's been using."

"Willow, I'd like to have you bless the axe, if you would. Buffy, you'll be there..."

"...to pummel some minions of hell if Spike can't kill Viagra"

"Hey! I _will_ kill him."

"...Xander, Anya, perhaps it would be good of the two of you to be ready to contact our friends in LA should we need help."

Willow broke in. "We're all going."

"Wills, it's too dangerous - "

Xander stood. "She's right. We all go."

Buffy looked to Giles for back-up, but he didn't say anything. "If this doesn't work, then - "

"Then we all die together." Willow took a step toward her friends. "If Spike doesn't - succeed - and it's 'hello, hell on earth,' then we all die anyway. It should be together."

The slayer looked at her friends. "I can't argue with that." She approached Spike. He pulled back a little when she reached out a hand to him.

"Good luck saving the world. You'll need it."

"You're just jealous that it's my turn." The vampire took her hand. "Let's go."

* * *

Veyrta's cave had an ominous orange glow emanating from the entrance. Xander clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "I think Spike can take him. I'm not getting that pre-apocalyptic vibe." Anya nodded in agreement; Buffy and Spike rolled their eyes.

Giles noticed that Willow looked rather ashen. He approached her. "Are you alright, Willow?"

"Huh? Oh, fine. Well, considering." She hefted the axe she had been given. "Here, one newly blessed axe. Hope I got the accent right."

Giles took the axe from her and held her hand for a moment. He met her eyes for a second and spoke softly so no one else heard. "I'm sure he'll be fine." Willow's eyes widened, but she didn't say anything.

Spike noticed the watcher holding the witch's hand and went and stood by them. He cleared his throat and stomped out the cigarette he'd been smoking. Giles let go of Willow's hand and went to speak to Buffy.

What could Willow say? She wasn't the dutiful wife sending her husband off to war. She wasn't even the girlfriend. But she wanted to say something. She concentrated on the ground and mumbled "Good luck, Spike."

Vampire hearing caught the inflection in her voice that no one else did. Spike lingered with Willow, and it became obvious to the others that a "moment" of sorts was taking place. Spike cleared his throat again and began to take off his duster.

"Hey, Red, could you, uh, keep this for me? Wouldn't want to damage it killing this Veyrta fellow, y'know..."

Willow reached out numbly and took the coat from him. She held it for a moment, looking at it. Then she swung it around her shoulders and slid into it. Spike smiled. "You look good in leather."

She smiled back. "I know."

The moment ended as the earth began to rumble. "I think that's my cue." Spike took a long look at Willow and started walking towards the cave.

"Watcher, throw me that axe." Then he was gone, and a very long ten minutes began.

Buffy came over to her best friend, engulfed in Spike's leather duster. She reached over and tugged on the lapel. "What's that about?"

Willow didn't make eye contact with Buffy; she just kept staring toward the mouth of the cave. She sank to her knees. "It's not like I planned for this to happen." Buffy sat down beside her. She followed Willow's gaze. "You don't mean..."

Willow nodded.

"Willow! He's a - I mean, he's Spike!"

"I know," Willow replied meekly.

"How? When? That spell! This is just that spell - "

"No," she shook her head. "The spell only set things in motion."

Buffy looked distraught. "Well, _why_, then? Can you tell me that?"

Willow got a goofy grin on her face. "I don't know." She kind of laughed. "Maybe because he never acts the way I think he will."

"You mean you expect him to act like a big jerk and he surprises you by acting like a humongo jerk?"

"Buffy, be nice. No, I mean the way he - " Willow was cut off by a roaring sound from Veyrta's cave. She watched in horror for a few seconds. Buffy knew it was too early to tell how the fight was going. "No, Wills, keep talking to me. Look at me. Give me an example of how the bleached wonder won you over."

The redhead blushed. "After we, uh, y'know, during that spell... uh, when we were getting dressed, he fastened my bra for me..."

Buffy raised her eyebrows.

"...and then when he came over that time, he left a note saying _please don't tell Slutty or Chubs_..."

"_What?!_"

"Oh! I don't think you're slutty!"

"No, no, what do you mean 'when he came over'?"

Willow's blush deepened. "Um, well..."

The girl talk was interrupted with a sustained booming sound. The ground shook violently. Buffy rose to her feet and saw Xander calling her name but couldn't hear him. Giles grabbed onto a nearby tree to keep his balance. And then it was over. The Scooby Gang congregated around Willow. Nobody moved. Smoke curled out of the cave; the orange glow had disappeared.

"Where's Spike?" Anya asked. Willow covered her mouth with a hand and closed her eyes. There was nothing to say.

Buffy's eyes filled with tears; Giles put his arm around her. Anya leaned into Xander. They were all looking at Willow, so none of them saw a bleached blonde vampire emerge from the smoking mouth of the cave. But they heard the coughing.

At the sound, Willow opened her eyes. She saw Spike, singed but walking their way. She stood up. Giles stepped back from her and pulled Buffy with him. Spike walked directly up to Willow and began kissing her like there was no tomorrow.

The slayer tensed, and her watcher tightened his grip on her shoulder. Xander let out an involuntary "nnaghh" sound before Anya put a finger over his mouth and and shook her head.

"Good Lord," Giles said under his breath. "He saved the world for her." Only Buffy heard him.

Spike released Willow. She was pleasantly out of breath. The vampire looked eagerly to the others. "Is that all you'll be needing me for this evening?"

Buffy raised a finger to point at her nemesis, but Giles spoke first. "Well, it does seem as though you have averted Veyrta's attempt to - "

"Right, then. In that case, we'll be off." With that, Spike picked up Willow and slung her over his shoulder. She gasped, but then looked at her friends and giggled. "See you guys tomorrow, I guess."

"Anngh haah - "

"Xander, shh."

The vampire with the witch on his shoulder vanished into the night. Four stupefied onlookers remained. Xander regained his knack for actual speech.

"What just happened there?"

Buffy wrinkled her nose in disgust. "She, uh, loves him, I think."

"Duh." They all looked at Anya. "Don't any of you people pay attention to the subtext?"

Xander was adamant. "We got to do something, right?"

"No, we don't." Giles used his old librarian voice.

"A witch and a vampire in love. I think it kind of works." The ex-demon smiled and took her boyfriend's hand. He softened.

The slayer huffed. "It'll never last."

Giles shrugged. "What ever does?"

* * *

Willow held Spike's face in her hands. "Who'd have thought it, huh?"

He grinned. "Not me, love."

"You're a creature of the night; this'll never work."

"You're a sister to the dark ones; I think we have a chance."

Willow tossed her head back and laughed. "Only on the hellmouth."

THE END


End file.
